1. Field
Although not so limited in its utility or scope, embodiments of the present invention are particularly well suited for cooperation with a machine tool foot for retaining the machine tool in place on the floor of a workshop or processing facility, for example. A typical embodiment is more generally adapted for anchoring a mount including a force-distributing pad and a stud to a supporting surface.
2. Brief Description of an Illustrative Environment and Related Art
A machine tool mount (e.g., foot) typically includes a downwardly extending support stud connected to a force-distributing support pad adapted for contacting supportive engagement with a support surface which, in the case of machinery, is typically a floor. The force-distributing pad may include one or more fastener-receiving apertures (e.g., anchor bolt holes) to facilitate the securing of the machine tool from which it depends to the floor of a shop or processing facility, for example. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, a typical installation of a machine tool involves the preliminary positioning of the mounts of the machine tool, which is often massive and cumbersome, in the desired locations on the floor to which the machinery is to be secured. Once the machine is preliminarily aligned in the desired location, the floor is marked in locations corresponding to the positions in which the floor is to be bored in order to facilitate the receipt of fasteners through the fastener-receiving apertures in the machine's feet and into bores in the floor.
As shown in FIG. 1B, once the floor has been marked, the machine is moved out of the way to allow a boring tool (e.g., a concrete drill) into the areas to be bored. Boring the floor with the machine tool in place in the desired location is frequently not practicable because the area around each foot of the machine tool is typically obstructed in a way that prevents the perpendicular alignment of a drill and drill bit with the floor for boring in alignment with the fastener-receiving apertures in the feet. The preliminary alignment, and then temporary relocation, of the machine tool required in a typical installation adds to the installation time and presents hazards associated with the movement of heavy machinery. Moreover, multiple lateral moves of the machinery are sometimes necessary as fastener-receiving bores corresponding to each foot are bored into the floor.
Once the fastener-receiving bores have been bored into the support structure, the machine is moved back to the desired position such that fastener-receiving apertures in the mounts are aligned with fastener-receiving bores in the floor, as shown in FIG. 1C. Finally, as shown in FIG. 1D, a fastener (e.g., a threaded fastener such as a screw or bolt) is inserted through each fastener-receiving aperture of a selected set of fastener-receiving apertures in the mounts and into a corresponding fastener-receiving bore in the floor for threadable engagement with an internally threaded fastener below the floor (not shown), for example or, as shown in FIG. 1D, a side defining the fastener-receiving bore.
As illustrated in FIG. 1E, a further difficulty is encounter by those employing present methods of machine tool anchoring when conduits or wiring, for instance, reside below the floor in the areas corresponding to drill hole locations as determined by the apertures in the machine feet. For example, a machine tool often must be secured in a very specific position with very little tolerance for positional deviation. It is not uncommon in processing facilities for pipes or wiring to reside directly below an area of the floor to be bored as shown in FIG 1E. The presence of conduits or wiring below the desired foot location presents a substantial obstacle requiring a cumbersome solution such as conduit re-routing or a customized machine mounting solution, for example.
Accordingly, there exists a need for apparatus and a method that facilitate the positioning of machinery in a desired floor location and the anchoring of the machinery to the floor while obviating the need for temporary removal of the machinery to accommodate floor boring. Moreover, there is a need for apparatus and a method of machine anchoring that alleviates difficulties encountered when conduits or other obstacles reside below bore locations as dictated by the fastener holes in the feet provided with a machine.